The present invention relates to an automatic apparatus that enables the fast and programmed cooking of dry food, particularly of pasta and legumes, by operating at atmospheric pressure.
The fast cooking of dry food, and particularly of alimentary pasta, has always been the aspiration of the cooks in the kitchens of restaurants, spaghetti shops, large communities and other similar organizations, wherein the quickness of the service is an essential requirement for success because of the high number of ready dishes to be served.
Automatic apparatuses for cooking dry alimentary pasta by operating at pressures higher than atmospheric pressure are already known. For example, similar apparatuses are described in Italian patent no. 1,207,735 and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,966. Obviously, such known apparatuses are not free from the typical drawbacks of the equipments operating at high pressure. These drawbacks are for example those due to lacks of tightness which are particularly serious when it is operated at pressures of seven or eight bars and temperatures of 140-150xc2x0 C.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic apparatus enabling the fast cooking of alimentary pasta and other dry food, which is free from the above mentioned drawbacks of the apparatuses operating at superatmospheric pressure. Said object is obtained according to the present invention with an apparatus whose features are specified in claim 1. Other features of the apparatus are specified in the following claims.
The apparatus for fast cooking according to the present invention offers the advantage that it can be easily controlled by simple pressure on the suitable buttons provided in a control board governed by a suitable software.
Another advantage of the cooking apparatus according to the present invention includes the remarkable possibilities to comply with hygienic rules. As a matter of fact neither the pasta nor the water or waterproof container thereof gets in contact with the operator""s hands.
A further advantage offered by the cooking machine according to the present invention is that it ensures a cooking regularity which is maintained precisely for the whole period of the apparatus working.
These and other advantages and features of the automatic apparatus according to the present invention will appear to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings.